Earlier this fall, I heard a longtime Iowa Republican consultant predict, in public, that Congressman Steve King would not be on the ballot in 2020 – either by losing a primary or choosing to retire. And he said he didn't care which one it turned out to be.

I was skeptical. Despite his close call in the 2018 election, King’s practically an institution in Republican-dominated western Iowa. He handily dispatched his last two primary challengers.

But now it seems as if GOP consultant David Kochel’s prediction has some potential. State Sen. Randy Feenstra announced on Wednesday morning that he was planning to challenge King in the June 2020 primary. By afternoon, I had heard from a second Republican who is going to run: Bret Richards of Irwin. I’ll tell you more about him in a minute.

Bret Richards(Photo: Special to the Register)

I’m hearing there may be at least one more GOP challenger who hasn’t yet announced as well. And King may be feeling some pressure: He kicked off the new year with an announcement that he would hold 39 town hall meetings in his district this year. That’s a huge change from his past practice of avoiding public forums in favor of telephone town halls and by-invitation meetings.

What King likely won’t be able to change, especially now that Democrats are in charge in the House, is his relatively paltry record of legislative accomplishments. That’s one of the reasons Richards, a 47-year-old Army veteran, educator and former businessman, has decided to mount a challenge to King.

At first glance, Richards seems like someone who might be content to keep voting for King as long as the Kiron Republican wants to serve. He grew up in Irwin, a Shelby County town of just over 300 people, married his high-school sweetheart, got a degree in civil engineering from the University of Iowa and came back home after the Army to work in his family petroleum and convenience-store business. The business was sold in 2015. He spends his free time attending his three kids’ sporting events and other school activities.

But Richards also views King’s service from the perspective of his second career. He has a doctorate in human capital management and teaches classes in interdisciplinary leadership at Creighton University. He isn’t seeing much leadership from King.

“Living here my whole life, it’s frustrating to see how ineffective he has been,” Richards said in a phone interview. “… For the 4th District, we do not have great representation in Congress. And we need it.”

Richards mainly keeps his focus on issues like rural development, health care and veterans’ mental health. He doesn’t mention the controversy over King’s inflammatory, race-based rhetoric until he’s asked. “He can answer for his own actions,” Richards said. “I know who I am. I know I won’t embarrass the state.”

King in recent years has gained national notoriety for virulent, anti-immigrant rhetoric such as characterizing undocumented border-crossers as drug mules with “calves the size of cantaloupes.” He’s also made it his business to travel the globe to hobnob with far-right European politicians, and he endorsed a Toronto mayoral candidate with neo-Nazi affiliations. Several of his corporate supporters dropped him just before the 2018 election amid a wave of sensitivity about anti-Semitism in the wake of a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

On Thursday, King's interview with the New York Times was generating a buzz, especially his quote lamenting the controversy generated by phrases like "white supremacist."

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King said, according to the Times. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”

It appears King doesn't think this kind of talk hurts his prospects. Now Republicans have an opportunity to prove him wrong for the sake of Iowa's reputation, if nothing else.

Richards describes himself as a conservative Republican who has been interested in public service his entire adult life. Other than a stint as Irwin mayor in the early 2000s (almost an obligation in a town that size), his experience in politics has consisted mostly of efforts to influence public policy through the Petroleum Marketers of Iowa. He’s also on the board of the community hospital in Manning, which gives him a platform to talk about health-care issues in rural Iowa.

He would have to be considered a dark horse candidate at this point. Feenstra, who chairs the Iowa Senate’s tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, gained prominence last year as an architect of the $2 billion tax cut.Tax cuts are on the legislative agenda again this year, which will keep him in the spotlight — but also in Des Moines, instead of campaigning full-time in the district.

Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, speaks during debate on a tax bill in the Iowa Senate, Saturday, May 5, 2018, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa.(Photo: Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press)

Based on nothing more than a phone interview, I’d say Richards is neither a polished speaker nor an expert on a wide range of issues. But if he works hard enough to meet voters personally, he likely can speak their language and relate to their concerns.

“I think what matters is showing that I’m a leader that can get things done,” Richards said. “I think I can connect with voters.”

Richards doesn’t discount the power of incumbency. King is serving his ninth term in the House.

“I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think I could win,” Richards said. “But Congressman King is not going to win his next congressional election.”

That’s a message many Iowa Democrats have been pining to hear — and, apparently, a growing number of Republicans as well.

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